


What I miss? ..... THE APOCALYPSE? WHAT?

by Browniesarethebest, thesherlockianwhjustcant



Series: Secret Hunter Buddies Club [1]
Category: Criminal Minds, Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Apocalypse, Gen, Hunter Emily, Spencer ex-hunter, hunter Spencer, sam and dean get arrested
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-05
Updated: 2016-11-02
Packaged: 2018-08-13 03:49:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,263
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7961323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Browniesarethebest/pseuds/Browniesarethebest, https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesherlockianwhjustcant/pseuds/thesherlockianwhjustcant
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sam and Dean get arrested in the middle of trying to do something about the apocalypse, and because they literally have no other options, Dean calls Spencer, who had been out of contact with the Winchesters and the hunting business for almost five years. </p><p>This is the story of how he gets dragged back in. And doesn't mind one bit...</p><p>(set in season 5, but it won't necessarily follow step-by-step what happened, a bit of canon-divergence)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Spencer, to the rescue!

Dean wasn’t all that surprised that this had happened, but it was still shitty. He and Sam weren’t really trying to be super careful nowadays, not with the freakin’ apocalypse looming, but police don’t know about that, and it won’t matter what Dean or Sam says because they won’t believe them. Dean had to think. Who was he supposed to call when he and Sam get arrested? If he called Bobby, there wasn’t much he could do for them...

Dean sighed. The next option--really their _only_ option--was Reid. Dr. Spencer Reid, the kid that got out of all this. The kid who hunted with them for years and then went off and got who knows how many phd’s and what not. He was the one who managed to get out before all this shit happened. Before Cas and Hell and everything. Dean had heard that he was working for the FBI now, and... well, Dean was just gonna have to take his chances and give him a call.

“Yeah, yeah, can I get my phone call? I’d like a lawyer.” Dean cut off the police officer who was currently interrogating him. He added the lawyer part at the end because he knew it was the only way the guy would shut up.

The detective narrowed his eyes and closed the file on his desk, standing up. “It’s your right,” he conceded. He left the room and came back shortly after with Dean’s phone from evidence. “Make it quick,” he said before leaving the room again.

Dean scrolled through his contacts hoping against everything that Reid hadn’t changed his number.

*****

Spencer was sitting at his desk going over some paperwork when his phone rang. It took him a moment to actually realize it was _his_ phone that was ringing and not someone else’s. It wasn’t until Morgan hit him on the shoulder and said, “Reid, you gonna answer that?” that he realized.

He frowned and reached for his phone, fumbling to answer so much he didn’t get a look at the caller ID. “Hello?”

The person on the other end huffed out a laugh. “Ha, thought I had the wrong number at first.”

Spencer’s eyes bulged, and he nearly dropped his pen. “ _Dean_?”

“It’s me. Look, I don’t have much time.”

“What do you need? Anything.”

The few members of his team sitting closest to him--Prentiss and Morgan--leaned closer to listen. Reid never got phone calls.

Dean laughed again. “Well, you’d never guess what’s goin on, but, uh, Sammy and I... we, uh, well... we got arrested and--”

“You _what_?”

“Look, we were working a job! You remember how the law can get a little... blurry when you’re workin a job.”

Spencer rubbed his eyes with his free hand. _Yeah, I remember._ “Why are you calling me?” He didn’t mean it in a mean way, it was just... he’d been out of contact with the Winchesters for almost five years now. Last he heard of them, Sam was in college, trying to get out like he did, but Spencer guessed it didn’t work out for some reason...

“Well, you see we need to get out of here, like _now_... we have somewhere we need to be and--” Dean broke off with a sigh. “Look, I wouldn’t be calling if it weren’t an emergency. Please, Spence, we need your help.”

Spencer softened at his old nickname. Only JJ and Dean ever called him that, both in an older-sibling type of way, but it still warmed his heart. No one had ever given him a nickname before--one that he liked anyway...

Despite all that, he still wasn’t sure what Dean wanted him to do. “I’m not sure what you want me to do.”

“Can’t you just... I dunno call them and--?”

“No, Dean, I can’t just call them and tell them to let you go.”

Dean sighed. “Well, then, what _can_ you do? Because I’m serious, if we don’t get out of here, people _will_ die. I’m not exaggerating. I wish I was, but I’m not.”

Spencer frowned. It was only now that he noticed it, but something was different. _Dean_ sounded different. “Dean, what’s going on?”

“Look, my time’s runnin out, and I can’t explain it all over the phone, can you help us or what?”

Spencer weighed what Dean wanted him to do. A plan--despite his best efforts--started to form in his mind. Now, he _had_ to help. “Yes, I’ll do what I can. Just sit tight.”

“Thanks. And, look, I promise I’ll fill you in. We would have before now, but... well, we didn’t want to drag you back in.”

Now, Spencer was worried, but he didn’t let it show in his voice. “It’s fine. See you soon.” Dean said goodbye, and they each hung up. Spencer sat there for a few moments, his brow wrinkled in contemplation as he tried to figure out the best way to approach this.

“Reid? You all right? Who was that?”

Spencer didn’t even know who asked, but he looked up to find both Morgan and Prentiss looking at him with worried expressions on their faces. “Huh?” He took a moment to gather his thoughts. “Oh, uh, it was a, uh, an old friend.” He turned to his computer and opened up the national database. He needed to find out where Sam and Dean were arrested. Dean had forgotten to mention that.

Morgan and Prentiss, however, didn’t seem satisfied with his answer. “Are you sure you’re all right?” Prentiss asked.

Spencer had just searched for Sam and Dean in the system. They were being held in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, which thankfully, was only a couple hours away. He looked back up at Prentiss. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” he said as he stood up. “I’ve gotta go talk to Hotch.”

Without saying anything more, he walked away from them and up to Hotch’s office. He knocked and waited until Hotch said, “Come in.”

He walked in and, not wasting time, he said, “I need a favor.”

Hotch looked up from the papers on his desk to give Reid a surprised look. “A favor?” He asked. Spencer nodded. “You never ask for favors,” he remarked.

 _That wasn’t a no_ , Spencer thought. “I know, sir, but I--”

Hotch held up a hand. “It’s fine, Reid. You’re allowed to ask. I’m just surprised. What do you need?”

Okay, this was it. “Could you sign off on a prisoner transfer?”

Hotch frowned. “For whom, might I ask?”

Spencer knew he’d ask questions, but he hadn’t really thought about _what_ those questions might be and now, he was unprepared. “Sam and Dean Winchester. They were arrested this afternoon by local authorities in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.”

“Okay... I’m sorry, but why?”

 _Shit_ , he really needed to get better at this lying thing... “I think they might be linked to a couple of cases, and, uh, I think it’d be good to investigate them... Uh, and if they aren’t our guys, we can just, uh, return them... I guess...”

Hotch’s frown deepened, this time in disbelief. “Reid... what’s the real reason?”

Spencer sighed and decided to ignore the question all together. “As a personal favor to me, can you please sign off on it?” Hotch opened his mouth as if he was about to point out that he ignored his question, but Spencer beat him to it. “I’ll make the drive alone, I can even do it on personal time, I just... please.”

Hotch narrowed his eyes, but after a few moments, he nodded. “You can take Morgan with you. You need an extra man if you’re transporting two prisoners.”

That wasn’t ideal, but it was the best he could do. “Okay.”

“Print off the paperwork, and I’ll sign.”

“Great, thanks, Hotch.” Spencer left his office quickly and printed off the paperwork for Hotch to sign. Then, when he was heading back up to Hotch’s office, he said to Morgan, “Special assignment, Hotch wants us to get going soon. You should get ready.” Morgan looked rightfully confused, but Spencer was already back in Hotch’s office handing him the appropriate paperwork. Hotch signed and gave them the go ahead to leave.

Spencer, practically running, grabbed his go-bag and Morgan and headed to the parking lot. “Reid, you mind telling me what the hell is going on?”

Spencer stopped next to the SUV and turned to Morgan. “We’re driving to Lancaster, Pennsylvania to pick up two prisoners and transport them back here.”

Morgan frowned. “Why?”

 _WHY IS EVERYONE ASKING THAT?_ Spencer shrugged. “Orders are orders,” he said as nonchalantly as possible.

Morgan groaned. “Ugh, fine. Give me the keys. Ain’t no way in hell you’re driving.” Spencer handed over the keys willingly and climbed into the passenger seat.

Within a matter of minutes, they were on the road, headed to Pennsylvania. “I should give the police a call, make sure they know we’re coming.” Morgan nodded his agreement as he merged onto the highway. Spencer dialed the Lancaster Police, and after a few rings, someone answered.

“Lancaster Police Department, how may I help you?”

“Hi, this is Dr. Spencer Reid with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, and I’m calling because another agent and I are transferring two people you arrested today back to DC.”

The woman on the other end sighed. “What are their names?”

“Sam and Dean Winchester.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line. “Yeah, we brought those guys in this mornin. You never woulda guessed what for. Grave-robbing. I didn’t even know that was still a thing.”

“Was that all they were charged with?”

“We got ‘em on a few charges of credit card fraud and one of ‘em--Dean--for murder.”

“ _Murder_?” Spencer couldn’t help but be surprised.

“Mmhmm. He killed--what was it?” She paused for a moment. “I think it was two people in Milwaukee and I think one in St. Louis... Seemed only a matter a time before the FBI showed up, to be honest, with them crossing state lines and all.”

Spencer blinked, unable to process all the information. _Dean... a murderer? A_ serial _murderer?_ He shook himself out of his thoughts. “Yes, well, that’s what we specialize in, ma’am... My partner and I are about two hours out, is that all right?”

“Don’t see why not.”

“Okay, thank you. See you soon.” The woman grunted a goodbye and hung up. Spencer put his phone away and opened up the file on the Winchesters. He wished he was surprised at their transgressions, but really, he was surprised there weren’t _more_.

“What did you say these guys’ names were again?” Morgan asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Sam and Dean Winchester.”

“Wasn’t the person who called you earlier named Dean?”

 _Well, damn_. “Uh, different guy,” Spencer tried to sound as if it was obvious. He wasn’t that successful.

Thankfully, Morgan moved on. “So, what’re they in for?”

“Credit card fraud and, uh, murder apparently.” Reid paused, and then, catching it in the file, said, “Oh, and grave-robbing.”

“ _Grave-robbing_?” Morgan asked incredulously. “Seriously? Wait, they aren’t those kinda freaks who like to... you know?”

Spencer caught what he was saying and was disgusted. “No! They seem to just... well, maybe ‘grave- _robbing_ ’ isn’t the right word. More like grave- _desecration_.”

“What do they do to desecrate them?”

“Burn the bodies.”

Morgan was quiet for a second, for which Spencer was thankful, before he said, “Well, that’s just fucked up.”

Spencer wasn’t sure how to respond without giving away anything, so he just stayed quiet. Morgan continued making small-talk the rest of the way to Lancaster, but as they grew nearer and nearer, Spencer grew more and more quiet. He was getting nervous. Not just because he had to figure out a way to let the Winchesters go. Not just because he had to lie to Morgan and Hotch and everyone else on the team. But, because he hadn’t seen Dean or Sam in almost five years. And, that note in Dean’s voice this morning, that something _different_ in his tone... It scared him. Dean--when he had known him--was always a fun-loving guy. Someone who was always quick-witted and poking fun at others. But, this morning... he sounded rough--that was the best way he could think to describe it. And, it freaked the hell out of him.

They finally reached Lancaster around 2:30 in the afternoon. The knot in Spencer’s stomach only tightened when they walked into the police department. “You better take point, Reid. I still don’t know what the hell is going on,” Morgan said.

A red-headed woman approached them and smiled. “Hi, you must be the FBI. We spoke on the phone?”

They each shook her hand in turn as Spencer said, “Hi, yes, um, I’m Dr. Reid, and this is, uh, this is Special Agent Derek Morgan.” He stopped talking before he totally lost it.

The woman nodded. “I’m Detective Daniels. Can I see your transfer of custody form? Then, you should be set to go.” Spencer opened the file in his hand and flipped through it to find the form. Once he found it, he handed it over to the detective. She looked it over and nodded once again. “Looks good. Follow me to the holding cell, and we’ll get it all sorted.”

“Thank you,” Spencer said as he and Morgan followed Detective Daniels through the station.

They reached the holding area, and Daniels said, “All right, boys, look alive. FBI’s come for ya.”

Dean smirked, head hanging low, but Spencer could still tell. “Ha, it’s about ti--” He broke off whatever idiotic thing he was about to say when he looked up. He caught sight of Spencer, and his eyes widened just the slightest bit. Sam looked up too, and he was less successful in hiding his surprise.

Daniels handled taking them out of the holding cell one by one, and she handed one to Derek and one to Spencer. Then, she said, “Nice doin’ business with you. Hope to do it again.” She smiled and followed them out.

Once Spencer and Morgan had Sam and Dean settled in the back of their SUV, they expressed their thanks again and climbed into the front seats. Morgan was driving again, and Spencer resisted every urge to look back at the brothers. Just from the small amount he saw of them inside the station, he could tell how different they looked. They both looked like hell, their eyes burdened and their faces drawn. He wondered if he looked any better to them. ‘Cause he’d certainly been through some shit since the last time he saw them. His job was _hard_ . And, as Dean once said so eloquently, _Demons I get, people are crazy_ , well, he was reminded of that on a daily basis. He’d yet to fully understand why humans do what they do, yet he could understand perfectly why a demon did what he did.

It was silent until they were on the highway, at which point, Dean couldn’t hold back anymore and said, “Come to rescue us, huh?” He asked, receiving a painful kick from Sam as a result. Spencer knew the comment was directed at him, but Morgan was the one to reply.

“Shut up,” he said.

Dean, ignoring him-- _of fucking course_ \--asked, “What about my car? Can I get her back at some point?”

Spencer resisted the urge to laugh. _Of course he’d be worried about the Impala._ “You’re still under arrest, you’re still going to jail, so no. Not any time soon.”

Dean seemed very disappointed about this, and Spencer had a feeling it wasn’t just an act. Dean opened his mouth to say something else, but Spencer beat him to it. “Don’t worry, all the evidence against you is in the back with us, though, so at least, that’s safe.” To Morgan, this sounded like teasing, winding up the suspects, but to the Winchesters, Spencer knew they understood he was talking about whatever it was they were trying to get out of the station. At least, that was what Spencer thought. He wasn’t entirely sure there _was_ something with them that they needed to have, but when he saw both of them physically relax in the backseat, he knew he was right.

“Great,” he heard Sam mutter sarcastically.

Spencer smiled a small smile. He still wasn’t sure what was going on with Winchesters, but being here with them, _seeing_ them, it made him feel right again, _whole_ . He hadn’t felt that way in a while, and just like that, the knot in his stomach unraveled. His worries no longer worried him because this was what he was supposed to do. He just _knew_ it. He'd figure the rest of it out later. 

Just like a true Winchester would.


	2. Um, Emily? We need your help too...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! 
> 
> We were not expecting such an influx of love for this story, so thanks to everyone who's reading, leaving kudos, and commenting! Y'all are awesome! Thanks!!!!
> 
> Happy reading!  
> ~thesherlockianwhojustcant & browniesarethebest

Prentiss was catching up on some paperwork as Reid and Morgan left to “go on assignment.” She wondered what that was all about, but she didn’t question anything. It probably wasn’t anything big. She just focused on her paperwork.

After a few hours, Garcia stopped by her desk. “Hey, you want to go grab something for a late lunch?” She asked.

Emily looked up, checking the time as she did. It was almost five, and she hadn’t eaten since breakfast. “Yeah, sure.” She stood up to follow Garcia out to get lunch when her phone rang. She glanced down at the ID, preparing to just ignore it. But, as she caught sight of Bobby’s number, she had to answer. “Uh, hold on, Garcia, I gotta take this.” Garcia nodded as she answered, “Hello?”

“Emily, hi,” Bobby’s greeting sounded flustered, and that only made her unease grow. “I’ve got some bad news. Sam and Dean were arrested this morning.” She could practically hear him shaking his head as he muttered, “Idjits... Anyway, I just called the precinct where they’re being held, and they told me that the FBI took custody of them, takin’ em back to DC.”

Emily repressed a groan. She’d been monitoring the Winchester brothers’ activities for months now, ever since they made the FBI’s most-wanted, and she missed their arrest today. Of course. “I don’t know what all I can do, Bobby.”

“I know, I know, and I wouldn’t be askin’ if--” Bobby cut himself off suddenly, and Emily waited for him to continue. “Look, Emily...” Bobby started hesitantly.

“Yes?”

“There’s some stuff that I haven’t really brought you in on in the past few months, and... look, I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to drag you into all this... But, if Dean and Sam don’t get out of jail, we may as well sign our death warrants right now because the world is goin to shit.”

Emily blinked. She’d never heard Bobby’s voice sound as serious as it did just now. “Bobby, what’s going on?”

“I can’t explain over the phone. It’s too complicated, but, look. I need you to see if you can do something-- _anything_ \--about getting them out.”

“I’ll try, Bobby. I’ll try.”

“Thanks. And, I promise, as soon as all this is resolved, I’ll fill you in.”

Emily nodded even though Bobby couldn’t see her and said, “Sounds like a plan. I’ll call you with any updates.”

“See ya, Em.”

“See you,” she said and hung up. She turned to Garcia. “I’m sorry, Garcia... Something came up. I need to--” She broke off as Morgan and Reid walked back into the BAU with none other than Sam and Dean Winchester in tow. Dean was wearing a shit-eating grin while Sam wore a somewhat disgruntled and annoyed look. From what Emily had ever been told about them, those looks seemed to fit their personalities to a T.

Morgan was holding Dean, and he jerked him a little. “What you smiling at?”

Dean--if it was possible--smiled wider. “Oh, nothing. Just admiring the general splendor.” And, then, to Garcia’s astonishment, he winked at her. Morgan shoved him to keep walking and steer him toward the interview rooms. Reid followed shortly after with Sam in tow. Once they’d disappeared, Emily’s mind began to spin. Why were they brought _here_ ? Sure, she knew they were going to be at the FBI, but not in _her_ unit. This couldn’t be more or less convenient. She sighed as Morgan and Reid walked back into the bullpen.

“Man, the nerve on that guy, I swear,” Morgan said as he shook his head. Emily swallowed a smile.

Just as Emily was about to say something, Hotch burst out of his office and said in a stern voice, “Reid, my office. Now.” Then, as an afterthought, he added, “Prentiss and Morgan too.” Emily frowned but followed her colleagues into their boss’s office. He shut the door behind them. “Reid, you didn’t tell me it was _the_ Winchesters.”

“I’m sorry... _the_ Winchesters?” Reid asked, oblivious.

“They’re on the most-wanted list,” Emily said, beating Hotch to it.

“I see _someone_ is paying attention to the list... even more so than I am. I should have recognized the name...” Hotch shook his head as he sat down. “How did the transfer go? If I’d have known, I would have sent four people.”

Morgan shrugged. “It went fine. Besides the fact that the older one has a mouth.”

Emily, again, tried not to smile. She’d never actually met the Winchester brothers, but she knew enough about them to know that that was just like Dean.

Hotch nodded. “Okay... Well, Reid, I’d like you and Prentiss to lead the interrogations. Interview the older one, Dean, first.”

Reid and Prentiss nodded together. “Okay, we’ll get on that right now,” Emily said, eager to get started.

The three of them left the office and re-entered the bullpen. Reid stopped Prentiss as they were heading to the interrogation rooms. “Look, Prentiss,” he began. “You really, um... could you let me have a go at him first? Alone? I think, uh, I think I might be able to get to him.”

Emily frowned. She wasn’t used to seeing Reid this flustered... at least not in these kind of situations. As to his request... well, that wouldn’t work. _She_ was the one who needed to talk to them alone. “I think it’ll be better if we try it together.” Reid nodded and followed her the rest of the way to the interview room where Dean was waiting for them.

“Wait!” Garcia yelled before they went in. She scurried up to them with a file. “This is their file... Well, _one_ of them anyway.”

Emily took it and said, “Thanks.” Then, she and Reid walked into the interview room.

Dean was sitting in an eased position, his arms resting on the table, his shoulders hunched slightly. He looked up at their entrance, and his eyes danced between them for a few seconds before he cocked a grin and leaned back. Reid and Prentiss both took seats as Reid said, “This is Agent Emily Prentiss. We’ll be interviewing you.” Dean raised an eyebrow as if to say _oh, really now?_

She opened his file as if she weren’t already familiar with it and then asked the first question that came to mind. “Tell me about St. Louis,” she said.

Dean pursed his lips and tilted his head in mock-contemplation. “Hmm, let’s see, it’s a city in Missouri.”

Despite her best efforts, Emily chuckled. “Right. Well, what can you tell me about the time that you spent there? Anything interesting happen while you were there?”

Dean looked like he was about to respond with another witty one-liner when Reid cut in and changed the subject. “Why don’t you just tell us about this morning? What did they get you for today?”

Emily frowned at Reid although he didn’t see it. Why was he changing the subject?

Dean looked between the two of them with a cocky smile. “I’m gonna play Switzerland here, not answer _either_ question.”

Prentiss bit her tongue. She needed to get him to understand that she was on his side somehow. “It says here that you’ve been accused of impersonating FBI agents. What’s your fake supervisor’s name? Tom Willis, is it?” Dean’s grin faltered. That wasn’t in his file, and he knew it. Thankfully, Reid didn’t. Emily turned to Reid. “Can you go get his other file from Garcia real quick?” she whispered. He frowned at her, but he nodded. Then, he got up and left the room. Prentiss flipped the switch on the side of table to cut the cameras, then she said, “Look, we don’t have a lot of time before he gets back, but Bobby called me. I’m a friend. And, I’m going to help you somehow. Just give me a little bit of time.”

Dean’s eyes narrowed. “You’re a hunter?”

She nodded. “Yep. Well, off and on. When I catch cases nearby, I take care of them, but it’s not my life or anything.” Dean blinked as if this were some foreign concept to him.

Then, he cracked another cocky grin. “I think you need to talk to Spence about all this.”

“What? How did you know...” she trailed off. _No, no that’s not possible._ “Reid... _Reid_ is a hunter?”

Dean laughed. “Retired. Old friend. You guys should talk, get on the same page.”

Just then, Reid walked back into the room with a file. Emily stood up, tapping him on the shoulder as she left the room in a way of telling him to follow. Once they were in the observation room and she’d checked they were alone, she said, “You know the Winchesters?!?”

Reid looked taken aback. “What? No... no, I don’t--no.”

“Are you--” Emily looked around to make sure they were alone again. “Are you a hunter?”

Reid’s eyes grew to the size of golfballs. “I don’t hunt...”

Emily gave him a level look. “I’m not talking about animals, Reid.”

Reid frowned and blinked rapidly. “Certainly you’re not talking about humans--”

“ _Reid_ , come on! I’m talking about... you know.” All he did was narrow his eyes. She sighed. “Dean Winchester didn’t kill anyone in St. Louis.”

“Yes he did, there were eye witnesses--”

“No, _he_ didn’t do it. A shapeshifter did.”

Reid took a step back. He blinked rapidly and then looked away at Dean through the one-way glass, then back at Emily. “Wait... you’re a--a hunter?”

“Yes.”

“A shapeshifter? Really?”

Emily frowned. “What, you didn’t know?”

Reid shook his head. “No... I mean, I was close with the Winchesters for a while, but when I decided to get out and had the chance to, we lost touch... Today was the first day I’d heard from them in almost five years.”

Emily raised her eyebrows. “Wow...” She trailed off, unsure of what to say next. “So, where do we go from here?” Spencer shrugged. “Do you have any idea what’s going on? Why they need to be out so bad?”

Reid shook his head sorrowfully. “No,” he said. “I don’t, but... Something is different about them. They’ve got this look. It’s like they’re not the same as when I left them. They look...” He searched for the right word for a long few moments, then shook his head again. “Just _different_.”

Emily could feel the pity on her face, and she tried to mask it. She didn’t want Spencer to think she was feeling sorry for him. She nodded instead and said, “I thought I heard something off about Bobby, too.”

“I’ve never met Bobby personally, just heard stories from John.” Spencer hung his head and sighed. “I read in their file that he died a while ago... I can’t believe it.”

Emily tried to keep the pity off her face, but _dammit_ , it was there to stay. She tried to change the subject. “I’m sorry... But, what are we going to do? How are we going to convince Hotch to release them?”

Spencer seemed to consider this for a minute. Emily, too, tried to come up with ideas, but she kept drawing up blanks. “We could stage an escape,” Reid suggested.

Emily quickly nixed that idea. “No, he wouldn’t believe that we’d make a mistake.”

Reid nodded. “Yeah, that’s true...”

Emily thought hard for a while longer, trying to force her brain to spit out an idea, but nothing happened. “It’s times like these we need someone higher up than us to pull some strings.”

“Who’s higher up than the federal government?”

Emily shrugged. “I don’t know, God?” She laughed at her joke, but Spencer frowned. She sobered up for a moment. “What? Did I give you an idea?”

“I bet you know someone in the state department or Interpol or whatever, who’d--”

Emily held up a hand to cut him off. “Nope,” she said. “No one I know owes me a favor _this_ big.” Spencer sighed in exasperation. “Let’s get back in there. See if he has any bright ideas.”

They turned and walked back into the interrogation room, and Dean smirked. “Have a good chat?” He asked snarkily.

Emily smirked back at him as she sat down. “Not really,” she said. Dean frowned. “We have no idea how to help you.” Dean blinked. “Any ideas?”

Dean blinked again. Then, he said, “ _What_? You guys... You were--you know people. You can just--”

“Why does everyone think that this isn’t that big of a favor?” Emily asked. “I would have to ask someone to release two _federally_ wanted criminals with no better explanation than because I said so.” She shook her head. “We need someone high up, who knows about all this.”

“You guys are as high up as the ladder goes, and since one of you is retired and the other is part-time, I wouldn’t consider you guys as being on the ladder to begin with, but...” Dean trailed off. “Who’s higher up than you guys? Like besides the president and the CIA because I’m pretty sure that’s out.”

Spencer chuckled. “Yeah, Dean, that’s out... Emily said God, but that was a joke, so--”

Dean snapped his fingers. “That’s it!” He had an excited gleam in his eyes as an idea crossed his mind, but it quickly died away. He sighed. “Maybe... I dunno. I don’t think this will work any more than anything you guys come up with...”

Emily frowned. “What is it? No bad ideas.” Reid nodded as a way of encouraging Dean to tell them his idea.

Dean shook his head, though. “No, it wouldn’t work. It’s too much of a long-shot... I doubt it’d work.”

“Dean,” Reid said. “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’d be at least worth trying.”

Dean sighed, but nodded. “Okay... Okay.” He nodded again and sat up straighter. Then, he looked up at the ceiling with his eyebrows raised and said, “Um, Cas? Do you, um, do you think you could give me a hand? I, uh, well, Sam and I need your help. Could you, uh, well... shit, Cas, I don’t know how to do this. Can you just come on down and we can talk face to face?”

Emily and Spencer exchanged very confused glances. _What the hell was Dean doing?_ Then, they heard the flutter of wings behind them, and they both turned to find a man in a trenchcoat standing behind them with a confused expression on his face. Emily and Spencer were up and had their guns drawn before they could so much as take a breath. All the stranger did was frown, tilt his head and raise two fingers and place them on Emily’s forehead.

That was all she saw before everything went black.


End file.
